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I bought a lightly used rear wheel off Ebay with a Campy Record hub, probably 2006 or 2007 version. It feels smooth when I spin the axle by hand, but when I tighten it onto some dropouts to test it under load, it doesn't spin perfectly freely. With my old Nuovo Record hubs I could dial in the bearing adjustment perfectly and they were like "butta".

I openened them up and everything's nice & clean inside, but there's no locknut type setup to micro-adjust bearings ..... What's the deal with adjusting these hubs ?

It's amazing that you could take the hub apart and not figure out how the bearings adjust. The split collar on the right side, with the small socket head bolt (requires 2.5mm hex wrench) is used to adjust the bearing play, while the wheel is in the bike. If you get it too tight however, you'll need to remove the wheel and tap the left side of the axle to loosen it up and start over.

It's amazing that you could take the hub apart and not figure out how the bearings adjust. The split collar on the right side, with the small socket head bolt (requires 2.5mm hex wrench) is used to adjust the bearing play, while the wheel is in the bike. If you get it too tight however, you'll need to remove the wheel and tap the left side of the axle to loosen it up and start over.

It's also amazing what you can learn by reading the manufacturer's instruction sheets!

BTW, I think the Campy hub adjustment system is the best and most accurate one available. As DaveSSS noted, you adjust the split collar with the wheel clamped in the frame until the play just disappears, then tighten the clamping screw and you are done. No need to adjust the cones off of the bike and try to leave enough play so it just disappears when the wheel is installed.

It's amazing that you could take the hub apart and not figure out how the bearings adjust. The split collar on the right side, with the small socket head bolt (requires 2.5mm hex wrench) is used to adjust the bearing play, while the wheel is in the bike. If you get it too tight however, you'll need to remove the wheel and tap the left side of the axle to loosen it up and start over.

I see how they adjust. But they're not as smooth and as frictionless as my old NR hubs. I'll try doing it on the bike.

With NR hubs, after adjusting (with the correct amount of play, I would clamp some dropouts on them and they would spin nicely. The new hub has noticeably more "stiction".

I have the same hubs (2006 Chorus) and, adjusted on the bike to zero play, they are glass smooth and will oscillate at dozen times when I store the bike as the very slight wheel imbalance finds it way to the bottom. I use Phil Grease, so the only drag (there is no perceptible "sticktion"), must come from it's viscosity.

The beauty of the Campy bearing adjustment system is that you don't need any "Kentucky windage" to set the bearing play, hoping it will be right when you clamp the wheel in the dropouts.